A PEARLSHIPPING CHRISTMAS
by max acorn
Summary: my first xmas pearlshipping fic! a present to all true pearlshippers. enjoy


MA: hey peoples. It seems that a lot of people enjoy my pearlshipping fics. A lot in fact. So I've decided to work on a couple of more for, since there aren't many good ones out there. And since it's the holiday season, here's a special gift to all of my fans and to all pearlshippers around the world. Keep the faith. As normal, I don't own pokemon. Well enough of that stuff. I know what you want so...................ON WITH THE FIC!!!!!!!!!

A PEARLSHIPPING CHRISTMAS

"Argggggggg! This is so hard!" ash exclaimed, nearly tearing out his black hair in frustration. His breath coming out in puffs from the cold winter air as pikachu looked at up at his friend/trainer in worry as his situation.

It was the end of the year for the young trainer as Christmas was right around the corner. Ash was never one for picking out gifts. It was hard enough to figure out what to give his mother since she didn't seem to want anything. She was happy with her life and mr. Mime helping her out as well as keeping her company. Normally, ash would just call his mom from the road on the holidays and say merry Christmas to her and how much he misses her but this year is different. After finally winning the sinnoh league tournament, he earned the right to face the elite 4 but that challenge was months away. With no need to be on the road this year, ash decided to head home for the holidays and spend some time with his mother. It seemed this feeling was catching on as many of his friends, who were either trainers and coordinators, didn't have to travel during the season so he invited them to his place for a Christmas party. It took some doing but many of them agreed to the offer and began to make their way to pallet town, which was now covered in white snow. Ash had spent the last few days picking out gifts for all his close friends but this day, he was just shopping for one person. One special person.

Dawn. To say she was his friend was a vast understatement. She was his friend, his partner, his sparring buddy, his biggest fan and best supporter. Ever since they met, a bond formed between them. A incredible bond. It scary ash almost how quick he took to the young coordinator. Maybe it was the face that she was just like him when he started out. Maybe it was the fact that she saved pikachu from team rocket. Or maybe it was just the fact that she was pretty. Not that ash would openly admit it to any one. But he knew she was very important to him and now sought out the perfect gift to give her. Something to show that she was important to her. Thus, ash found himself at a small jewelry store in viridian city, only a hour's walk from his home town of pallet, going half way insane from trying to pick out something for the girl in question.

"Can I help you?"

Ash and pikachu turn their heads up to the counter to see a young woman with brown hair, red eyes and a very knowing smile.

"Oh sorry. I didn't notice you there."

"Its fine. I've been enjoying your little spaz feast for about ten minutes now." she answered, smirking all the way. He blushed in embarrassment while his loyal pokemon just sweat dropped.

"So who is she?"

"W-what?!" ash exclaimed.

"How did you know it was for a girl?"

"Dear, as long as I've been running this show, I've seen all types come in and purchase items. And the only time men come in by themselves are for two reasons: one, to shop for their mothers and two, to shop for a girl. And you don't seem like you are shopping for mommy so it must be for a girl."she explained. Ash was stunned at how she was able to figure out his motives so easily.

"Its that obvious, huh?" he asked with a light blush.

"Very. So how long you two been dating?"

"D-d-dating!? No no. its not like that. We are just friends."

"That's what they all say..................wait. You look kinda familiar."

"Really?"

"Yes. I could've sworn...........................is your name ash ketchum?"

"It is."

"I knew it. You're the sinnoh league champion. I saw your match a few weeks ago. Had me on the edge of my seat."

It was pretty much par for the course for ash. Since he won in sinnoh, he became something of a celebrity in his home region. Not a day went by that someone didn't recognize him and ask for a picture or autograph.

"I also remember a girl in a cheerleader outfit."

"Yeah. That's dawn."

"Dawn? Pretty name. So I take it she's the one you are shopping for?" she asked. Ash said nothing because she was right on the money. He figured there was no point in hiding it.

"Yep. I am. I've been looking all day and I cant find anything for her."

"I see. Well, you are lucky guy. That girl is beautiful."

"I told you, its not like that. We are just friends."

"Sure you are." said the owner, with smirk, noting her disbelief in his explanation.

"Ok. So lets see........a bracelet is out. You give your sister bracelets. Hmmmmm. No rings for her. Too serious..............I got it!"

The owner then ducked under the corner and pulled out a large black case. She placed it on the counter and opened it, revealing its contents to the young trainer.

"See anything you like?" she asked as he scanned the contents until his eyes lit up.

"That one! That's the one!" he exclaimed. Curious, pikachu climbed up ash's leg and on to his shoulder.

"Pika, pi." he chirped, upon seeing what ash had picked out.

"You like it, too? I thought so too."

"I figured you'd like it. So you want it?"

Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills, surprising the clerk. It was his winnings from the sinnoh tournament, from which he had been using to buy gifts for his family and friends. Ash rarely spent much on himself, save for food for himself and his pokemon so he had money to burn. The raven haired trainer quickly counted through the wad before returning his eyes to her.

"Can I have engraved?"

"Sure. Normally it would cost you a few dollars more, but for you, I'll do it for free."

* * *

The trip back home seem to quicker than normal to ash. Maybe it was because he was in such a good mood, he all but ran back. But he wasn't headed back to his home. He knew that his friends would be at the lake. Since it was frozen over, it was perfect for skating in the winter. Ash, with pikachu on his shoulder made his way down the old familiar path to the lake.

Upon arriving, the pallet town native smiled at the scene before him: on the side of the lake sat his mother and dawn's mother, talking up a storm. Johanna thought that since her daughter was going to spend time with ash and his friends, she might as well too. Seeing how she didn't want to spend Christmas alone, it was natural that she wanted to be around others. She and delilah became fast friends, chatting seemingly all day long about a wide array of subjects. Ash also seemed to notice that when ever he'd come in on the two mothers talking, they would just point at him and giggle. He could at times hear them talk and his name and dawn's always seemed to be on their lips at the time.

Else where, may and max were throwing snowballs at one another. It wasn't hard to get the two to return to his home town. The petalburg siblings enjoyed their stay when ash took on the kanto battle frontier. Their parents decided their kids needed to hang out with their friends so they were allowed to stay over at the ketchums. Ash waved over to the two, with only may waving back. Max took the opportunity to wack his sister in the head with a snowball. He could hear her scream at him before picking up a hand full of snow and began to chase him.

Brock was hanging around as well, near the edge of the lake, apparently doing some ice fishing, with a girl no less. Ash recognized the girl as Lucy, the pike queen of the battle frontier. It was almost hard to believe that a woman would want to spend time with brock but he figured it had to happened sooner or later. Lucy was holding happiny in her arms while sitting next to the breeder, seemingly utterly adoring his youngest pokemon. Croagunk was sitting idly by, looking up at the sky with that same expression of thoughtfulness on its face. Normally, it would be right behind brock, ready with a poison jab to reign in his trainer's over-romancing but this time, it knew a bit better, since Lucy enjoy spending time with him.

"Hey ash!"

The source of the voice belonged to misty, who was running up to him. It wasn't hard for the youngest waterflower sister to come to pallet. She could leave the gym in her sister's hands for a few days while she visits her friend. The red-headed tomboy ran up to him, a eager smile on her face.

"Hey misty! When did you get here?" he asked, as she enveloped him into a huge hug.

"Just a few hours ago. Your mom told me you were shopping in viridian."

"Yeah. Just some last minute shopping."

"Oh yeah? Get me anything?" she inquired, eyeing the bag dangling from his hand.

"I wouldn't worry about this. I bought your gift days ago." he answered, slightly hiding the bag behind his leg.

"Uh huh. Well, I hope that gift is something pretty, to match my beautiful figure."

Ash and pikachu sweat-dropped at this as misty went into her romantic mode. It wasn't that he hated her when she was like this but he could go without seeing her in this state.

"So how is everyone?"

"Having fun as normal. Your mom has been talking with mrs. Berlitz since before I got here."

"Those two are a lot alike, save for Johanna being a ex-coordinator." he said as they walked over to where brock and Lucy were.

"Ash, you made it back, I see."

"Yo, brock-o. catch anything?"

"Nothing yet. But I got lady luck on my side."

"Damn right you do." spoke Lucy, causing brock to blush a few shades of red.

"Well, I did finally find you a gift so no peeking."

"Don't worry. I already got what I wanted for Christmas."

"Who would've thought that brock would finally find a girl?" said misty.

"What do you mean?"

"Lucy, have I got stories to tell you."

The two girls laughed at the idea of talking of brock's past record of failed love attempts.

"Oh and ash? She's on the ice."

The young trainer's eyes tracked over the surface of the ice to find the person that's been on his mind for days now. There she was, dawn. Skating along the ice, humming to herself, with pipplup sliding right behind her. It was almost like she was dancing on the ice, even though she admitted that she wasn't very good at ice skating. Ash, of course, thought she looked utterly flawless. His eyes stayed glued on her form, watching her every turn, dip, and sway, like a drifblim at the mercy of the breeze. He wanted to call out to her but his voice refused to heed his commands. He just took her in, committing this moment into his memory. It wasn't beyond the notice of his friends as Lucy and brock just grinned a little over how ash's attention seemed to exclude everything other that the blue haired girl on the ice. Misty, on the other hand, didn't know how to react. She had never seen ash act like this for a girl, let alone her. She felt a slight pang of jealousy but dismissed it, thinking that he just missed her as a friend. At that moment, dawn's eyes caught sight of her friend.

"Ashཀ" she called out, her face lighting up with a smile as she glided over to the edge of the lake, followed by her loyal water pokemon.

"Nice moves for someone who doesn't like skating." joked ash as she got close.

"Just because I don't like to doesn't mean I don't know how. So you back from shopping?"

"Yep. Got everything I wanted to get."

"Including my gift?"

"Don't even think about it. You'll have to find out with everyone else."

"Its ok. I wasn't gonna peek. What ever you got, I'm sure I will love. Now, come skate with me."

"Sorry, dawn. I didn't bring my skates with me." he said, causing her expression to fall slightly.

"Why don't you use mine, ash?" chimed in brock.

"I cant do that, brock. What if you wanted to go?"

"It's alright. I can go later." he said, handing over his skates.

"Thanks, bud."

Ash quickly strapped on the skates in almost record time before he stood up unsteadily. He pushed off and glided onto the ice.

"Not to shabby, eh?" he asked dawn, as she skated around him.

"Meh. Could be better."

"Oh ha, ha." he quipped back.

"But honest, you look good."

"Would you believe this is the first time I've skated in about 3 years."

"Could've fooled me. I wonder how good you are."

"Why, is that a challenge, ms. Berlitz?"

"Yes it is, mr. Ketchum. If you are as good at skating as you are at battling, then catching me shouldn't be much trouble."

"Ha! You know I cant resist a challenge." he said with a smirk as he began to chase after the coordinator.

"Those two never change." brock said with a knowing grin.

"Ash seems very................friendly with her." misty pointed out.

"Oh yeah. He and dawn are about as close as two people can get. Its rare to see one of them without the other. They enjoy each other's company very much."

"Well, ash did seem to...........pep up when he saw dawn." said Lucy. Misty watched as the two played on the ice, ash seemingly almost on top of the world right now. She had never seen him so happy and with a girl no less. Ash was never that playful with her, or may for that matter. So what was so special about dawn that ash would do something like this? True, she was pretty. No, that's not right. Dawn was beautiful. Misty had to at least admit that. But she didn't come off as vain. She did seem to care how she looked, which was a given on how coordinators of the sinnoh region had to look good for their contests.

"So what if he peps up around her? She doesn't know ash as well as me. They probably fight all the time, like he and I use to do when we were getting to know each other."

"Not really. They rarely ever fight and not on the level that you and he did. And when they do, they make up rather quickly. They really don't like to fight with each other. In fact, the last fight they had was a while ago and over something rather silly: dawn had fixed her hair for her last contest and she asked ash if it looked ok. He just said it looked ok, and that got her riled up. But it was over as soon as it began. Ash was right there, cheering for her when the contest began." brock remembered with a low chuckle. Right now, misty's jealousy was pretty obvious and it even more obvious that she wanted to jump on the ice and choke dawn out until she was as blue as her hair. The couple noticed this and just smiled at each other. It seemed as though this Christmas would be interesting to say the least.

* * *

The days passed by quick and more guests arrived until the night of the big christmas party on Christmas eve. The ketchum house was a buzz of activity as trainers, coordinators and researchers mingled with one another. Some even took the time to exchange gifts with each other. Drew, who had arrived the day before, gave may a rose he said he grew personally. This got a response of oohs and ahhs from everyone in the room. From that point on, the two were inseparable, save for when drew went to get them something to eat. Surprisingly, Paul attended the party, having mellowed out for the holidays. He says that he only came as a guest of maylene but he seemed to have a good time. Well as good a time a person like Paul could have. Strangely, Gary and zoey said they would come but had yet to make a appearance but no one to think any more to it than that. Misty seemed to be in a foul mood but hid it well under a mask of happiness. She had hoped to spend some time with the boy whom she had a crush on but her self proclaimed rival was in her way. Every time she went to see him, she was always at his side: when he went to see his pokemon, when he trained, when she trained, or when they were just hanging out. It was like they were attached at the hip. What's worse is that it seems that ash's pokemon were under her spell. They immediately took a liking to her but most notable was charizard. The gruff fire type was a hard one to get to know by any one. Even misty had to be a little careful around him, even though she had known him since he was just a charmander. But not dawn. From the moment ash introduced him to her, he was like a tamed cat. She petted him behind his head and strangely enough, he liked it. Hell, she could've sworn that she heard him purr. Charizard, ash's strongest and most violent pokemon purredཀ She couldn't believe it. Ash explained that since her manoswine was about the same personality type as charizard, it was easy for her to get him to like her. Misty was annoyed, truly annoyed. Sure, she liked dawn and could see them being close friends but right now, she was in her way.

Misty made her way through the crowd of people in the living room, looking for the young ketchum but to no avail. She decided to check the kitchen, thinking that he was stuffing his face full of food. She approached the door to the kitchen when she heard delilah and Johanna talking to each other.

"I must admit delilah, your husband is quite the eye candy."

"I know. That's why I married him. He was so bold but stubborn. We were both students of prof. Oak when we meet. He was quick to do anything exciting but that was the great thing about him. He was utterly fearless. Ash inherited that from him."

"I see that. That ash is quite a boy. He'll grow up to be quite a heartbreaker when he gets older."

"But what about your dawn? I swear I've never seen a prettier girl."

"Well, I cant take all the credit. She gets that happiness from her father. He got that saying from him. I'm sure he'd be proud of how she's turned out if he was alive."

"Me too. I know my silver is out there and where ever he is, I know he's proud of how well his son is doing."

"Yes, especially when it comes to the ladies."

"Tell me about it. I never thought ash would finally start to become interested in girls."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. I always use to think that he and misty would get together."

"That red haired girl? Hmmm doesn't seem his type."

"Misty has her moments but she's a nice girl. But I had to say, I wouldn't mind if dawn hooked up with him."

"I feel the same. Dawn does seem, I don't know, better since she met ash. It wouldn't surprise me if they were in love already."

"You'd assume so from how they act together. They're practically married."

The two women laughed at the thought of their children married to each other but outside the door, misty wasn't laughing. No, not even a smile graced her face. She couldn't believe that ash's mother thought that dawn was better for him than she was. Ash had only known her for a few months and now, his mother thinks they should be married. It should be her since she's known ash the longest. She wasn't going to let him go to some blue haired floozy that he just met. Steeling herself, she pushed over the door and walked in.

"Hello, misty!" greeted mrs. Ketchum.

"Um, hello, mrs. Ketchum, mrs. Berlitz."

"Hello dear and please, its Johanna."

"Alright, Johanna."

"What can we do for you dear?"

"Well, I was looking for ash and figured he would be here, choking down food."

"You know him too well misty. We needed some more soda so I sent ash to the store for some more. He should be back in a bit."

"Oh ok. Well, I'll wait in the living room......." misty started to stay before the back door swung open and the person in question walked in. After opening the door, he picked up two bags at his side and walked in.

"I got soda!" ash trumpeted.

"Oh thank you sweety. Sorry for making you run out like that."

"Its ok mom. I mean someone had to go get it. Oh hey misty. I almost didn't see you there." he said, as misty smiled sweetly at him.

"Hey ash. You busy?"

"Nope not really. Oh wait. Johanna, have you seen dawn around?" he asked. Misty twitch upon hearing that name but no one noticed at the time.

"Oh um, last I saw, she was with Kenny."

Misty gave a small sigh of relief. She knew who Kenny was and she knew that the young coordinator did have a crush on dawn. This was perfect. With her out of the way, she was free to spend some time with ash, HER ash. But if she had been paying attention, she would've noticed that ash was fiddling with a small black box in his palm.

"Why? Did you need her for something?"

"Its ok. It can wait."

"Say ash?"

"Yeah misty?"

"Want to help me with a Christmas tradition?"

"What kind of tradition?"

Still with that sickeningly sweet smile on her face, she reached into her pocket and removed a small green plant, which he held over her head.

"See. Mistletoe."

"What about it?" ash asked, still as clueless as ever but the two elder ladies knew exactly what she was trying to do. But both were grateful for ash's naivety in matters of romance.

"You see, when two people stand under the mistletoe, they have to..............kiss." she explained, a clear blush rising on her face. Ash paled at the thought of kissing misty.

"Um..........kiss? Right here?"

"Yep."

"That sounds great and all but................what's that, Paul? You wanna battle?" he called out, obviously trying to exit the situation.

"I didn't hear anything." said misty.

"Well, you must be going deaf. I clearly heard Paul call me out for a battle. Well, gotta go. Cant keep him waiting." he said, rushing past her and out of the kitchen. Misty's shy blush was soon replaced with the red of rage as she storm after him.

"ASH KETCHUM, YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK AND HERE AND KISS ME!!!" she roared as she entered the living room, catching the attention of the whole room.

"Excuse me. Pardon me. Let me through. She's mad." ash said to the people around him as he made his way to the front door. The water trainer was in hot pursuit as he bolted out of the door. Now a normal person would take this as a sign that the person they liked wasn't interested in them like that. Sadly, misty wasn't normal and to her, this was the only way to make ash understand. By the time she made it out of the door, ash was dashing into the wood. Determined to make him kiss her, she stormed after him, ignoring the cold and the dark of the night. Ash, huffing and puffing, went deeper into the woods but fortunately for him, he knew these woods like the back of his hand. He stopped in front of a large tree, hoping to have lost his pursuer but he knew misty. When she was like this, she was unstoppable. It was only a matter of time before she caught him and did who knows what to him.

"Psst! Ash!"

Ash at first thought it was misty but after a few seconds he recognized it.

"Dawn?"

"Yeah. Its me."

"Well, where are you?"

"Up here."

He turned his vision sky ward and found her, sitting on a high branch.

"You hiding from someone?"

"Yeah. Misty."

"ASH, YOU BETTER GET BACK HERE OR I'LL BEAT YOU TO DEATH!!!!"

Dawn could see her friend flinch in terror at the sound of the threat. Without a word, she extend her hand down to him. Ash climbed up the bark of the tree until he was high enough to grab the girl's hand. Just as she pulled up him, misty stomped over to where ash once stood. Once he was on the branch, dawn clung to him and put her finger to her lips. Misty, unaware of his current location, looked around for some trace of her "prey". All the while, the duo literally held their breath, as she sniffed around.

"Hmmmm. That boy is so stupid! He'll have to come back and when he does, I'll get him."

With a huff, she stalked off back to the house, her temper slowly ebbing. Once she was gone, both of them let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Wow. That was close."

"You can say that again, dawn. Thanks for the hand."

"Its no problem."

Ash then climbed down from the branched and jumped the rest of the way down the tree.

"Come on, dawn."

"Are you crazy? If I jump down, I'll hurt myself."

"Its ok. I'll catch you."

"You sure?"

"Hey, no need to worry."

"That's my line. But if you drop me, I swear I will never forgive you!"

"Then all the more reason for me not to drop you."

"ok. Here I came!"

With a small push, dawn slipped off the branch and into the air. Ash got underneath her and with his arms open, caught the falling girl.

"Ooff!! Wow, dawn! You need to lay off the burgers!"

"Look who's talking, mr. 'I eat 4 burgers as light snack'. Now could you let me down?"she requesting, to which he did.

"Thanks. You're a lot stronger than you look."

"Well, traveling as much as I have, you gotta be strong. So why were you in the tree?" he asked as they began to walk back to the house.

"Why else? Kenny." she answered, with a slight huff.

"Kenny? But why?"

"Can you believe that he had the nerve to try and kiss me under the mistletoe. He kept trying after I said no and I had to hide out in the tree from him. He can be so pushy at time."

"I know how you feel. Misty chased me out of the house, wanting the same thing. We certainly have some crazy people as friends." he said, getting a small giggle from the girl.

"Kinda reminds me of my mom and dad around this time. They'd always kiss under the mistletoe when they thought I wasn't around but I'd usually be able to catch them."

"Oh, what happened to him?"

"He just vanished. He still sends Christmas cards to us so I know he's still alive."

"Don't you get sad not seeing your dad?"

"Sometimes, but I know he still loves us. And when the day comes for him to come home, I'll show him how great a trainer I've become."

"That's great ash. At least you have something of your dad. Mine died a long time ago. I don't have many memories of him but the way mom talks of him, it feels like he's still here." she said with a sad smile on his face. Ash knew that her father died when she was very young and it tends to make her sad at times and this time was no different. He hated when she was sad. He loved seeing her happy and he meant genuinely happy. That bright cheerful smile that brighten his day. She went so far to make him happy when he was down, like the time when she put on a show for him and his pokemon when he lost to Paul. He had to do something.

"Say dawn?" he said, reaching into his pocket.

"Hmmm?"

"I was gonna save this until I wrapped it but I think you could use this now." he said, presenting her with the small black box.

"Merry christmas, dawn."

"Ash, you shouldn't have." she said, taking it into her hands.

"I know. But I wanted to."

Dawn gave him a smile as she opened the box. Then her blue eyes went as saucers as she gazed at the gift inside: it was a small locket shaped like a diamond with a pearl design on the inside of it.

"Oooooooh ash! Its beautiful!"

"Look on the back."

Taking his advice, she turned the locket over to see some engravings on the back.

"To the dawn of my day." she read outloud. Ash just smiled his goof smile that she loved so much. Without another word, she embraced him in a tight hug which gladly returned.

"Thank you ash. It must have cost you a fortune."

"Close enough but hey, I would've wasted the money on food. Here, let me put it on you."

Removing the locket from box, she turned her back to him and held up her hair as he placed it around her neck. After snapping it into place, she turned back to face him.

"Well?"

"It looks great on you."

"Thanks. I'll never take it off."

"Oh you don't need to go that far, dawn. Well, we should get back. Our moms are probably wondering where we are."

"Ditto. Don't want them to send out search teams or something." and with that, the two friends walking back towards his house. All the while, dawn was swooning over her new trinket, her hand fiddling with it all the way. Soon her eyes drifted to ash. Her ash. That's how she always thought of him. This wonderful amazing young man who she couldn't see going a day without seeing or talking to. From the moment she saw him, saw his fearlessness, his caring nature, his determination to better him and his utter devotion to his pokemon or for any pokemon. She was drawn to him. She didn't know when he went from ash to her ash, but that's how she thought of him now. Ever present and pushing her from behind to go forward and be the best at whatever she set her mind to. He went to all her contests, always in the front row, cheering the loudest for her and her pokemon. He was her biggest fan, always having complete faith in her and in her abilities. Never once letting her think that she couldn't do something or letting the word impossible enter her mind. What a wonderful person he was. And such, she was his biggest fan. She enjoyed seeing him battle, watching how he faced each battle with stead fast determination and watching his mind create new and inventive strategies. He had a fire in him, a fire that would burn the world. And she wanted to be right next to him when it did. After a few minutes, the duo arrived at the front door of his home, the party seeming not to have slowed down in the least.

"Man, Kenny is gonna trip when he see this." said dawn, referring to her necklace.

"Him and misty both. But we'll just have to weather it."

"Yep. Oh my god, ash. Look."

Ash looked up with dawn to see the source of his woes tonight: a sprig of mistletoe that hung over the door.

"Just what we needed."

"Yeah......."

Ash looked over to dawn, who had a slight blush on her face. Seeing her, in the gentle light of the night, her blue eyes looking at him, with her locket hanging around her neck, he felt the heat rise to his face. He always thought dawn was pretty but now, at this moment, she was utterly breathtaking.

"Um............dawn.....?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't............know if you thought about............"

"Oh.........you mean........................yeah......."

"........if its..............ok with you.........."

"I don't mind. If you want to take a minute to..........."

Dawn never finished her thought due to ash kissing her on the lips. She was surprised at first but after a few seconds, she sunk into the moments and kissed him back. It wasn't anything deep or overly passionate. It was a simple kiss but for the two of them, it was like the world feel away. All the tender feelings they both had for each other was expressed in a single moment. Almost as if saying 'you are precious to me' without uttering a single word. It seemed to have lasted for a lifetime but only for 23 seconds. After that, they broke the kiss, staring directly into each other's eyes. Blue eyes meeting brown eyes.

"Wow........."

"Yeah........" was all they could utter at the moment. Ash then took her hands into his own.

"We should...........head inside."

"you're right. We should......"

As ash reach out and prepared to turn the knob, dawn gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Dawn, what........?"

"For later." she answered, sticking out her tongue at him before heading inside. Ash was still a little woozy from the last kiss and slowly a big goof grin grew on his face as he followed her into the house.

now normally, this would be the end of the story but not just yet. For now we turn around attention to a small snow bank on, not too far from the scene that just happened. From behind this mound of snow, two figures rose up, both of whom had cameras in hand.

"Did you get it, red?"

"Of course I got it, stud. It was a great idea to hide out and see what happens with those two."

"Damn right. And now we got the evidence of it all."

"Hmmmm. Do you think we should show them the pics we took of their little kiss?"

"Not yet, red. Let them enjoy the party. Then when its nice and calm, we'll sneak up on them and show them what we found when we were just arriving."

"Gary, you are a cold bastard, you know that."

"Of course I am, zoey. Its about time those two starting realizing they like each other. Lord knows we've all been waiting for them to do something."

"Yep. Hopefully this will get them to step things up a bit. So what now?"

"We'll have to go in separately. We don't want people to think something is going on between us."

"Now we wouldn't want that to happen, now do we?"

"Not yet anyway."

"Speaking of which, did you get me a gift?"

"Oh I did, alright."

"Will I like it?"

"You will. And then after the third time, you will really start to love it."

well, that's it. My first PS Christmas fic. I know its not perfect but I had to do something for my fellow pearlshippers out there. So I hope you enjoyed it. So MERRY XMAS TO EVERYONE!!!!!


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